The One that is Manny
by OverlordScorpion
Summary: After a strange night, Manny Rivera discovers what could be his and the city's most dangerous enemy of all: "himselves". How could El Tigre keep this new force at bay? After all, there's only be ONE true Tigre... or not? OCfree. R&R plz.
1. The Stone what Began Everything

******************THE ONE THAT IS MANNY**  


_"__And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are__…" -Mark 5:1_

_

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Stone what Began Everything  
**_

"Manny!" cried the old man from behind the door.

Slamming the door open, Granpapi Rivera entered his grandson's bedroom. To his surprise, there was no one inside.

"Where's that kid?" wondered the old man. He crouched and searched beneath the bed. "Manny?" He opened the locker and searched for him inside. "Manny, you here?"

Looking around, the old man spotted something over the youngster's desk: a group of math books; they gave the impression they were casted aside. The window was also wide open and the curtains flagged. A rejoicing smirk drew on Granpapi's face.

"He, he, he! That's my grandson!"

Granpapi Rivera approached the window, in case he could still see his grandchild anywhere in the horizon. A metal arm protruded from his Golden Sombrero of Chaos. Said arm ended in a pair of binoculars that placed themselves right in front of his eyes.

The starless and smog-filled sky shrouded the cityscape below. The volcano in the middle remained temporally dormant, despite its fame of erupting at random times. An ocean of night-lights illuminated nearly every corner of the streets; at least, as far as the buildings were located, for beyond the urban panorama a vast desert landscape surrounded Miracle City as a sea would to an island.

In the horizon, massive mountains spired so imposingly they could almost pierce the clouds; their shard tops, the blackened sky and crescent moon above granted the whole scenery an uncanny resemblance to the lower maw of a beast about to grind the city with its sharp fangs.

Still, no sign of Manny Rivera.

"Mmm… no sign of El Tigre anywhere." Granpapi withdrew the mechanical arm back to his sombrero. "_No importa_, I'll tell him later."

He was about to leave the room and grab some of his son's homemade chocolate stuffed churros when a thought struck his brain like a lightning bolt.

"_Un momento_, what if Rodolfo comes back before Manny does?" he rubbed his chin with his hand, thinking deeply on the consequences for his grandson. "Oh, well. Guess I won't be able to have my calm night of indiscriminate crime after all." He shrugged.

Then, he stood in front of the window.

"I can't let my grandson get grounded for sneaking out of the house when he should be studying; it'd discourage him of becoming a villain."

Almost as soon as he finished that sentence, his large sombrero deployed its concealed inner machinery all around the old man's body. In a matter of seconds, the seemingly harmless headgear transformed itself into a fully functional war machine in the manner of a powerful robot suit.

"PUMA LOCO!" cried the elder man from the red glass cockpit.

Puma Loco used his powerful robotic pincers to knock down a large hole next to the window and proceeded to jump off from the edge. His jet-feet propelled him upwards to the dark sky.

Now, all he had to do was delay Rodolfo's return to home so he never notices Manny left.

Maybe some minor robbery on the way…

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Random burglars crawled into houses with the intention of emptying it with the speed of a hurricane. The other, more powerful and resourceful villains raided banks, museums, markets, jewelries, schools, hospitals, newspaper stands and graveyards. Meanwhile, a strong and brave man did his best to handle this entire crime spree by himself.

Just another typical night in Miracle City. Above Miracle City, however, things were different.

Way different.

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Manny should have stayed at home and study for his math exam. Since he got a nasty F the last time, spending the night with his books would have been the best for him and his grades. Repeat: 'would have'.

His father's words still resounded inside his head, even as he continuously leaped from roof to roof. One of the fiercest scolds he has ever received and all because of that stupid exam. It began with the usual "Manuel Pablo Gutiérrez O'Brien Equihua Rivera" and ended with the son locked in his room, reviewing his barely existing class notes.

Eight days had passed since that moment and Rodolfo, who was aware that his son would have another exam soon (soon as in tomorrow morning), had obliged Manny to stay in his room after school to study, much to his Granpapi's dismay. Despite the noxiously boring measure, the boy managed to resist the adversity.

Until tonight.

One roof, two roofs, three roofs…

"Dang! Don't I have anything better to do?" sighed a bored El Tigre. For a few seconds, the thick pages of the math book seemed less boring. Gladly, just for a few seconds.

Twenty minutes passed, like twenty centuries. Indeed, the boy's mind could not find anything better to do than roof jumping. His father, White Pantera, left home earlier than Manny in another attempt to capture criminals during their activities. A possible encounter between both Riveras would lead to obvious consequences so Manny needed to keep a low profile tonight.

"_I better stop jumping around all around like an alley cat before my dad finds me and chants my whole name again."_ He thought. Then, looking around, he jumped from the building and landed on the sidewalk of a car-crowded avenue.

In addition, Frida had been sick lately. For this reason, she managed to avoid the past exam and an F of her own. She could not accompany her best friend on a nocturne adventure of fun mischief.

Walking by in a relatively relax manner, El Tigre raised his sight at the dark sky, at the towering structures he a few moments ago was jumping across.

"_M__aybe I'll pay Frida a visit. Would need to evade my father though. Hers too."_

The last time Manny went over to her house was three days ago, when he found that she had flu and would therefore skip school. In a desperate attempt to evade the fearsome test, even tried breathing in one of her tissues to catch a cold himself but, for some reason, he didn't. They both thought his superpowers granted him some endurance of sorts to diseases.

El Tigre walked by the avenue, paying little attention to his surroundings. The noise of running cars filled the air and the foul fumes emanating from their escape tubes.

Suddenly, an explosion thundered. When the boy turned to look, a dense smoke column rose from a broken bank while its alarm system released an ear-piercing ring like a wounded creature.

From the raided building, the Flock of Fury flew away with bags of stolen money in their hands as they cackled malevolently in the manner of a dark coven. El Tigre could at last have some action after a dull night of aimless wander.

However…

"Flock of Fury!" shouted a man from the other side of the avenue; a man wearing a spotless white suit, shiny bronze boots and a red feline mask.

"Dad!" exclaimed El Tigre. "I can't let him see me here when I'm supposed to be studying!" Thinking fast, the kid ran away on opposite direction to the upcoming fight but, then, he stopped all of sudden.

How could he let his father fight against three villains all by himself? What kind of son would do that? Manny ran out of time for moral pondering almost immediately as the Flock began heading his way in some strange aerial maneuver to surround and strike White Pantera.

Panicking, El Tigre used one of his claws to open a clog next to him and jumped into the sewers. The tunnel was filthy, humid and rat-infested; not to mention it reeked to all the combined types of biological waste that Miracle City dumped during the day. Even so, it was better than facing his father.

Guilt started to overcome the teen. Abandoning his father in the middle of a fight was not something he would ever intend to do.

"_My dad should be alright, he's __more than a match for them.. Besides, perhaps Granpapi might join him in."_ El Tigre tried to calm down his self-reproach.

Surprisingly, he turned out to be right. Moments later, a loud blast blew part of the pavement, which, in the boy's case, would be the ceiling. When El Tigre checked out through another clog, he spotted Puma Loco joining his son in the fight against the Flock of Fury. Although a villain himself, Puma would always be willing to aid his family even against his villainous colleagues.

El Tigre withdrew himself again and continued walking down the sewers. The sounds of the fight faded away as the boy wandered for nearly an hour. When he no longer resisted the putrid fumes and the boring environment of a sewer tunnel, he climbed the wall and emerged to the outer world. To his surprise, he had travelled all the way to the outskirts of Miracle City.

He had already discovered there was nothing for him in the city tonight, so he just ventured into the surrounding desert wasteland. By night, this part of the region was much fresher and cooler. The young lad enjoyed this change and, after meandering around the dry soil, he decided to lie down and rest for a while.

The rest became a deep sleep, and that while could have easily become the whole time between night and dawn if it wasn't for…

BOOM!

"I left the churros on the table. They're… wait, what am I doing?" El Tigre woke up so startled and suddenly that, for a moment, confused dreams for reality. Once he pulled himself together, he checked out what happened.

The blast had been powerful enough to open a small crater on the ground. Luckily, the explosion didn't blow his head to smithereens; had it happened a few meters away, it would've with ease.

"Whoa! What's that?" El Tigre leaned forward on the edge of the crater.

It appeared to be green, glowing and rocky. El Tigre jumped in and picked it up. Now, a regular recently fallen meteor would've burned his hand like a churro left in a microwave for over an hour. But this one didn't.

Manny drew it closer to his face to inspect it better. It _was_ green, glowing, but only resembled a rock, for it was as soft and cushiony like a sponge. Also, it had the size of a large apple. He put it into his pocket and thought of showing it to Frida tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow…

"Oh, no! It's 4:00 am!" El Tigre looked at the massive clock tower in the middle of Miracle City. Indeed, it showed four o' clock in the morning. "Dad must be home already. And if he doesn't find me…" El Tigre didn't even want to think about it, not that he had much time to think anyway.

Rushing as fast as he could, El Tigre managed to run all the way back to the city, to his home, to his room, to his bed… Incredibly enough, the young superhero managed to travel through all the distance in less than an hour.

Just as he travelled through the same avenue where he left his father and the Flock fighting, El Tigre saw White Pantera running on his way home too. Good news: His father hasn't yet found out that his son escaped. Bad news: He definitely would unless Manny didn't press forward.

El Tigre ran faster and managed to get back to Casa del Macho before his dad. Having no time to use an elevator or ladders, the boy simply encased his sharp claws into the wall and climbed all the way up the tower to his place.

Once in his room and as fast as he could, he spun his belt buckle and, in a blaze of green fire, his El Tigre suit changed back to his regular clothes. Then, he put on his Queso Sarcástico pajamas, put some assorted books on his desk, heard the front door opening, panicked, put the meteor rock in his school backpack lying on the other side of the room and threw himself to the bed.

"Manny, are you there?" said a voice from the other side of his door. The kid pretended to be fast asleep. The door opened. "Oh, you're sleeping. Sorry, guess it'll have to wait 'till tomorrow. Well, _buenas noches_."

He was somewhat relieved it was the voice of Granpapi instead of his father. Just kind of, because that meant Rodolfo didn't make it home, even when he was really close to. Manny worried for this a bit but his exhaustion overwhelmed him before he could think of it further.

Then it happened.

It began to shaking, like holding a caged beast inside. Manny, in his hurry, forgot to zip the backpack well. Twitching, the pack dropped itself to the floor and the meteor rolled out of it all the way next to the boy's bed, up near the headboard.

For a few minutes, the rock limited itself to beat like a hideous, malformed heart. With each contraction, it gained both volume and mass to the point of reaching the size of a human head.

The beating grew stronger and faster until it finally opened; not cracking like an egg, but like a bloom: the top of the rock unfolded slowly like flower petals. A green slime poured from the meteor's opening; gently, and yet dreadfully like a vile serpent stalking its prey.

As soon as it had all come out of its shell, the strange creature crept up Manny's bed like a giant liquid slug. When it placed itself over the sheets, its size was that of a large puddle.

Without any warning, the slime adhered to the young boy's face like a nasty blindfold.

"Hey! What's going-?" The ooze muffled Manny's mouth, drowning his voice and any possibility of crying for help.

In his struggle, the boy managed to release an arm by thrusting it upwards; but, as soon as he tried to reach his belt buckle, the slime extended its tendrils and forced them back. As Manny tried to free himself out of the snare, he noticed most of his body had already been entangled by the sludge which, in turn, had adhered itself to the bed.

Unable to move, talk, scream and eventually breathe; Manny's mind blanked in terror. All he could do was expect the end of this… situation.

However, this was far from ending.

_Very_ far from ending.

* * *

Well, this is my first ET fanfic. For the moment, and as the plot settles, I will limit myself to say only these 2 things:

1. The very moment I thought of the words "for we are many" (as quoted above. I think I ought to make a reference to the famous phrase what inspired me), I knew writing this fanfic was a must. In fact, "For we are Manny" was the original title but I decided to change it in favor of The One that is Manny.

2. I hope you'll enjoy it coz I'm certainly having fun writing. Also, I'd really appreciate to reads your reviews.


	2. The Day Miracle City Acted Loca

******************THE ONE THAT IS MANNY**  


_"Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error." -Molière_

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**Chapter 2: The Day Miracle City Acted Loca  
**_

It was morning already and the sun bathed Miracle City with its gentle warm rays. Where darkness once hid lurking criminals, now the shining daylight took place, disclosing any formerly concealed danger. As usual, citizens' first task lied in rebuilding and (trying to) retrieve whatever they lost during the night. Likewise, the local superheroes' job consisted in aiding said citizens along with the incarceration of any villain who decided to start his day early.

For this reason, a particularly outstanding hero, Rodolfo Rivera aka White Pantera, set the alarm at 5:15 am before going to sleep. However, last night's fight with the Flock of Fury left him extremely exhausted, causing a small delay on his awakening.

"SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING?!" screamed Rodolfo after lifting his heavy eyelids for the first time, only to realize that, in his deep sleep, he had missed the alarm.

Rushing madly, the man hurled himself from the bed and landed near the door several meters away. Before running to the bathroom, he stopped and looked behind him.

"Oh, yes. _Buenos días, mi amor_." Said Rodolfo dreamily to his ex-wife's large portrait on the wall. Obviously, the picture never returned the greeting, limiting only to show María's still smile.

He rapidly crossed the hallway and headed towards the bathroom to take a late day-starting shower. Coincidentally, his father had a similar idea and, just when he was about to grab the doorknob, Rodolfo burst in first like a rocket.

"_Oye_! I arrived first!"

"Sorry, _papi_, but I'm late on my schedule." Said Rodolfo from behind the door. "I should've woken up at five o'clock."

"But I need to go to the bathroom!"

"It won't take me more than 10 minutes. I don't have that much time anyway."

"But you're going to use up all the hot water!"

Rodolfo opened slightly the door and stuck out his head. His eyes no longer showed a mindless hurry but a strange mixture of slight defiance and upset displeasure.

"_Padre_, you know perfectly that I would never utilize such a vile construct as hot water for it bears the corrupting taint of pure evil; just like tattoos, refined sugar and loose pants." Granpapi rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Thereby, it is my solemn duty as a hero of this city to utilize only the water infused with the challengingly honoring low temperature, because it symbolizes strength, fortitude and-"

"I thought you were late on your schedule?"

"What? Oh. Yes!" Saying nothing else, he closed the door. Granpapi, tired by his son's extravagant speech on such a trivial matter, simply retreated to the dinner room to have some nice breakfast.

"Also," he yelled, in case Rodolfo were still listening "if you catch a cold, _you_ will be buy your own medicine! Pfft! 'Hot water evil'. _Por favor_..."

After finishing his 'cold shower of honor', Rodolfo approached his son's room. Apparently, he hadn't gotten up yet since the room remained locked. Concerned that Manny might arrive late to school, he knocked the door. No answer. He knocked again, a bit louder this time. No answer.

"Manny, get up already! You're going to be late."

Rodolfo himself should have left to his job several minutes ago. Seeing no other choice, the man took off his grey suit and hat, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, moved back away from the door, aim his strong shoulder at it and…

"Oh, wait. I have the key right here."

Putting his clothes back on, he entered Manny's room. Every single part and corner shined clean. The floor shined dustless, the stuff on the desk ordered and tidied. The bed was already made and the morning sunrays went smoothly through the polished surface of the window.

In general, the room was clean of everything: stains, filth, random mess, dirty shoes, stiff socks, Manny…

"Where's that boy gone to? I have to go in 30 minutes and he is supposed to be already ready for school." Despite his calm and mature character, Rodolfo started to lose his patience.

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Manny found his eyes too weighty to open. His head spun like caught in a tornado. The surface he lied on felt hard and warm like a dry rock. Altogether, a strong headache, exhaustion and dizziness took hold of him. It was like floating on the water after diving in it for a whole night without ever coming out for breathing. Slowly, the boy managed to sit despite his daze. After rubbing his eyes, Manny held his head since it felt like a heavy rock and glanced at his surroundings with his opaque vision. Something told him he no longer was in the comfort of his home.

"Where am I? How did I get- OW!" A sudden cramp struck his stomach brutally. Bringing his clawed hands on his hurting belly, El Tigre fell to the floor and twitched in pain for a few moments. However, as soon as the pain started, so it departed; leaving him gasping and rubbing his belly.

As he held his abdomen, the boy noticed something out of place: He was wearing his El Tigre suit, even though he had no memory of spinning his belt during the night.

"What the-? Is this some kind of a joke?" El Tigre finally got up "Ouch. My stomach!" The searing pain had left but a moderate aching still remained. "This is the last time I ate one of dad's Special Chocolate Churros. Now, I better- Whoa! It's morning already!"

Indeed, the sun shined all over Miracle City and its outskirts, which meant he was about to get late for school. This wouldn't be much of a problem if he hadn't already reached a point where he could get expelled. El Tigre tried to run but his still burning stomach didn't let him. In fact, he started to feel a second cramp making its way. It was a horrible sensation, as if his intestines had from one moment to another turned from scorching lava to solid rock.

Still, the boy pressed on. Coincidentally, when he finally reached a bus stop next to the highway, one of these transports was just picking up passengers. El Tigre entered the vehicle, but only to encounter a problem.

"Hey, where d'you think you're going?! You have to pay up first, buddy." Spoke immediately the bus driver.

"Yeah, you know… this is going to be really funny to you." Said El Tigre, grinning embarrassedly and scratching the back of his head. Obviously, he carried no money with him and the driver needed no excuses from a boy in bankruptcy.

Instantly, the driver kicked El Tigre out of the vehicle and drove away.

"Maybe the next time you're in trouble I'll take my time helping you!" he screamed from the floor, raising a clenched fist.

Now, all that remained for him was waiting an hour for the next bus. Or…

El Tigre harpooned the back of the departing vehicle with his sharp, chain-bound claws, right above the bumper. It was a cheap tactic; so cheap it was actually literally free, but he had done so much for this city, for good or for evil, that some retribution would not be out of place. On the other hand, Manny always carried the best of both worlds: a fraction of his father's good and grandpa's evil, which, in a moral sense, allowed him to take advantage of both sides and behave as he felt like, just like any other boy of his age.

The bus didn't run as fast as it should but it was still better than a pair of tired feet. El Tigre remained frozen still to avoid falling and drawing the attention from anyone inside the vehicle, just in case some sneak decided to denounce him to the driver. Right now, all he wished to lay down his head, take a nap and recover what felt like entire hours of sleep. Nevertheless, the constant stomach cramps and the uncomfortable metal "seat" on the rear of the bus wouldn't even let him close his eyes for more than a minute.

Except for a gang of thugs that tried to dismantle the bus (El Tigre had to scare them away by beating some of them up so as not to delay the vehicle), nothing special happened during the rest of the journey.

After an hour of holding onto the bumper, the boy arrived to Miracle City's downtown. Sneaking out of the bus station, El Tigre rushed to Casa Del Macho, which was now located close enough to reach it through a relatively short walking. Of course, there was no time for a short walking; so El Tigre undertook a speedy dash home.

Crossing people-crowded streets, dodging rivers of cars and suffering from an aching sensation in the belly, the teenage superhero arrived home. Just like the other night, El Tigre climbed the tall building all the way to the top.

Once there and panting in tiredness, El Tigre threw himself onto the balcony's floor, victorious of at last reaching his destination.

"I made it! I can't believe it. I MADE IT!"

"MANNY!"

The boy let loose a frightened scream and got up quickly. Behind him, his father, Rodolfo Rivera, stood in what could easily be the most authoritarian and terrible stance of all. El Tigre could almost see fire behind him. It was uncommon to see him reach that level of rage, especially towards his only child; but despite how much Rodolfo loved and cared about Manny, sometimes a father needed a strict hand to correct the wrong behavior of a son.

"I'm sorry, dad. I'll never do… whatever I did; I can't recall it clearly right now. But I'M SORRY, DAD! SORRY!"

"How could you steal all of my home-made churros?!"

"I told you, I don't recall any of… what?"

"You know perfectly that I make those churros especially to distribute them among the poor and homeless." Rodolfo traded his imposing rage for a more scolding, although no less strict, stance. "I'd ground you now but you have to go to school and I to work. I am already 24 minutes late to arrive 30 minutes early."

The man adjusted his hat and grabbed his suitcase.

"Okay, be good!" bade farewell Rodolfo joyfully before speeding to the main door and out of the house.

El Tigre found himself to be uncannily confused. Yes, he had eaten ONE of his churros, something his stomach and he now regretted; but only one, not the whole plate. However, there was little time to think about it. In fact, there were only 6 minutes before Vice-principal Chakal kicked him out of school for excessive tardiness.

"Why did I come to my room on the first place? Oh, yeah. My backpack."

His room was clean. El Tigre assumed it had been his father's work. Nevertheless, he grabbed his backpack and…

"Wait! I think I put some weird thing in here." He looked up inside and found nothing but random school stuff. "No, it wasn't my books. What was it? What was it?" For some reason, the boy could just not put his finger on it.

El Tigre ceased trying to remember. Time would not wait for him forever. He momentarily considered the idea of having some breakfast before departing. Nevertheless, his ill stomach suggested him to skip it.

"_Hola_, Manny." greeted Granpapi from the dining room table when he saw his grandson running downstairs. "Where have you been?"

"Meh. Just around." Answered the kid, trying to sound casual and in order to not give much attention to the fact he woke up in the middle of the desert.

"Want some breakfast?"

"No, thanks. I ate one of my dad's churros and I think it messed up my stomach."

"That's weird. I ate lots of them and noth… wait, just one? But we both ate the whole plate!"

"We? The plate? No, I just grabbed one yesterday. Are you gonna scold me like my dad too?"

"Yesterday? We ate them an hour ago."

"But I was out of the house."

"You were?"

Obviously, this conversation would lead to nowhere. Either both had been living in separate realities or one of them had gone mad and El Tigre wasn't much in the mood to chat random weirdness right now.

"Yeah, didn't you ask me 'Where have you been?'" he asked, imitating Granpapi's voice.

"Because it's been like half an hour since you said you were going to make me some coffee."

Now El Tigre knew there was something _very_ much weird going on. He urgently needed to stop wasting time anyway. He just had…

"ONE MINUTE BEFORE I'M LATE! Sorry, Granpapi but I have to go!" The boy sped out of the house.

"_Oye_, where's my coffee?!" It was too late. His grandson had already left. "Bah! Kids today. Always rushing! Don't they care about their evil elders anymore?"

"Coffee, Granpapi?"

"Thanks, Manny. I was just saying that you are always rushi— wait a minute!"

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El Tigre hurried as fast as an exhausted, confounded 13-year-old teenager could but despite his efforts, he couldn't reach school in time. The loud sound of the ring could be easily heard blocks away, even from his position.

All of sudden, the whole world had fallen upon him. The boy was now undeniably late. Definitely, this day had turned out the worst ever; and it was barely 9.01 am.

The young superhero leaned on a wall, panting heavily for the dash. In anger, he clenched the teeth and violently kicked away a stone on the floor.

"Ow! Hey, that hurts!" shouted a pedestrian.

"I'm doing way worst than you so SHUT UP!" roared furiously El Tigre at the pedestrian. The latter simply shrieked and fled from the scene, away from the infuriated boy with the steel-hard claws.

"This is all just _ridículo!_ I'm going to get expelled from school and I don't even know why!"

"_Oye!_" called a man from a window, a fat guy wearing a set of clothes that gave clear signs of not paying a visit to the laundry for at least a week.

El Tigre limited himself to turn his head and give a murderously stare at the man who, as soon as he watched the attitude of the teen, flinched a bit.

"Oh, forget it!" he added. Someone calls for him for nothing? El Tigre's frustration grew. He could sense his blood boiling like the city's volcano. "Just tell me where to find one of your brothers."

"I don't have _any_ brothers." Back to the bizarre conversations. Had everyone in the world gone mad after one night? "I'm an only child." Snarled El Tigre.

"Yeah, right. Stop joking and answer alre-"

"I said…" a part of his wrath slipped over, making him extend his deadly claws and show a violent grin at his interrogator. "I'M AN ONLY CHILD!!!"

Like the pedestrian, the fat man also emitted a small scream and fled from the scene; he appeared to be more like annoyed than scared though.

"_What's with e__verybody talking crazy stuff?"_ pondered El Tigre. He had the feeling all what was happening today somehow related to last night's events. _"What happened to me after going to bed? WHAT?!"_

Despite the lack of any apparent necessity, the young superhero kept on walking to school. Most probably, Chawal would assemble a party and celebrate the final riddance of Manny Rivera.

The vice-principal wasn't the kind of person that liked treating with youngsters, especially a full school of them; and neither was El Tigre the type of boy that crawls for favors from the teachers like many other bootlicking students do. Still, there was nothing else to lose. After all, he could try this or go straight with his father and tell him about the… situation.

As he suspected, Leone High School's gate remained shut. After climbing the wall with feline legerity, El Tigre jumped onto the grass field around the main building. Oddly enough, he noticed that Chakal was missing. The man always watched over the entrance like a predator prowling for his prey; in this case, Manny and Frida.

Once inside, El Tigre spun his belt and changed back to his regular self. The boy had no difficulty finding said man's office as Frida and he pay him forced visits very frequently.

Manny decided the best way to enter would demand lots of self-confidence, maturity and, overall, a calm attitude. So he burst into the room and undid himself in begs, creeping the floor on his knees.

"Sir, I beg you! One more chance! Please, don't throw me out of school. I've had the strangest day and-"

"Are you here to mock of me again?" Spoke Chakal, coldly and clearly. Manny noticed that almost all of his body was covered of white, creamy stains. Due to his experience in pranks and jokes, Manny immediately recognized the markings of a surprise barrage of pies.

"Answer!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I… uhh-"

"Go back to class, Rivera! And remember you have detention today so we'll see who 'has a pie for a face'!" growled the vice-principal. "NOW BEAT IT!" Manny waited no more; he quickly bailed out and shut the door behind him.

First, his father; then Granpapi; two guys on the street and now Chakal. Either some strange virus in the wild was affecting everyone's brains or they had all secretly plotted to annoy him till madness.

For now, he had been lucky that Chakal didn't even mention the possibility of kicking out of school. It was 9.15 am so the math exam must've already begun; not that Manny felt like attending it after not studying anything yesterday but what other choice he had? Everyone around him was acting weird, like Chakal overlooking the chance of his life.

Once in the classroom, Manny tried to look for Frida but then remembered she was still sick, still lying on her bed away from the current muddle. Nevertheless, he could use some company to rest his confused head on.

A silence worth of a graveyard prevailed in the classroom. The boy barely answered a question or two, spending his time trying to figure out whatever occurred last night, trying to solve not the problems on the sheet but those in his head. Manny racked his brains all he could but, despite his best efforts, everything resembled a fast-forwarded film: too fast to know what is going on but slow enough to acknowledge that something important is taking place. The words 'rock' and 'green' came to his mind but that was it.

One hour later, a loud ring resounded all through the school's hallways, pulling Manny out of his thoughts. Like a queue of people sentenced to death, the students all got up from their seats with grim faces and handed over the exams to Mrs. Lupita. Many of them were plain blank and some even had small drawings on the sides. Manny hurried to leave the classroom and headed for his next class, which was inconveniently located on the other side of the high school.

The boy noticed a strange attitude coming from his friends and classmates: as soon as they spotted him, they would gather around in small groups of three or so and chat warily between themselves. The majority, however, simply delivered him an odd look and continued with their respective matters.

"_It's __official nowl. Everyone's gone _loco_. _Totalmente loco_!"_ thought Manny to himself as he watched everyone's reaction around him.

With relative difficulty, Manny made his way through the crowd of people. Each passing moment made it harder to tolerate the low whispers and the suspicious leers directed at him that continuously proved his patience.

To his surprise, a blueish figure stood out from the crowd of students. Spotting this, Manny drew near and noticed a 13-year-old blue-haired girl wearing goggles on top of his head. Rejoicing of meeting his best friend after days and days of her absence, Manny ran toward Frida, casting aside anyone around him. What happened later nearly made his brain flip itself within his cranium.

The reason: Manny saw Frida Suárez talking to someone next to her, someone oddly familiar to him.

It was…

Manny?

* * *

I'm terribly sorry for the delay. You're supposed to have more free time once you're on summer vacation (I live in the southern hemisphere) but, for some reason, I think I had more time when I went to college than now. I know it'll sound demented but considering how I'm doing lately, I can't wait to go back to college.


	3. One, two, Manny

******************************THE ONE THAT IS MANNY**

"_Two's company; three's a crowd." -Popular saying_

_

* * *

**Chapter 3: One, Two, Manny**_

Under normal circumstances, Manny would've immediately thrilled of meeting his best friend back to school after weeks of absence. However, the very moment he saw Frida talking to someone wearing his exact clothes and bearing a strongly similar, if not identical, appearance to him, the boy realized this morning's mishaps were just the tip of the iceberg.

Unfortunately for Manny, this too was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Umm… hi, Frida. And…" He turned to the other guy "who are _you_ exactly supposed to be?"

Frida was shocked as soon as he watched this little scene: Two exactly looking Mannys in front of her. Aside from the different expressions on their faces, not a single detail differentiated from each one.

"Whoa! That flu must've reached my brain. I'm hallucinating." The girl placed her palm on her forehead, looking for any delirium-inducing fever.

For some reason, the other Manny, the one who accompanied Frida from the beginning, limited to smile in an odd manner, a mix of triumph and relieved impatience on his face; almost as if he had been expecting for this moment to arrive for too long.

"Took you long enough." He remarked.

"Answer to my question." Ordered the real Manny. Part of his frustration, induced by his exhaustion and overall bad mood, had already begun to surface; particularly since something within told him that he was close to finally find some answers.

"Who do you think I am? I'm you!"

"Me? No, _I_ am me. You are just a cheap imitator." The 'imitator' chuckled a bit with an air of arrogance.

"Yeah, kinda. And no. But yes. So-so, really. It depends on how much you know of the… situation." He took special care pronouncing that last word, even performing a quoting sign with his hands.

Frida, after recovering mostly from the jaw-dropped state, noticed how the atmosphere could be cut with a knife as both Mannys continued their argument. One stared at the other with savage frustration while the other scoffed the one with a know-it-all attitude. She had to intervene; otherwise she'd be left with no best friend at all, either fake or real.

Curiously, this pretty much brought her to mind the regular dustups with a certain girl whose name she didn't want to recall but started with Zoe and ended with Aves.

"Who's up for some ice-cream?" she called, placing herself between them.

"I am!"  
"I am!"

"No, you wait here till I'm back. You have plenty of stuff to explain." Asserted Manny.

"Me? _You_ are the one who arrived late for school. _I_ should go and _you_ buzz off!" replied the imposter.

"This is _my_ school, she is _my_ best friend, it is _my_ ice-cream!"

"I don't see your name graved on them."

"Neither do I see yours, whichever it is."

"Okay, both of you chill before you pull _cabezas_ off. That ice-cream thing was just a small fib to back up some things."

"Back up what things?"  
"Back up what things?"

Frida turned to Manny and spoke directly.

"C'mon, dude. He acts like you, talks like you, he even looks and dresses like you…"

"_I_'m the real Manny here, Frida." called the Manny on the left.

"Oh, sorry." She giggled. "You two look that much alike." She turned to the real _real _one this time "Anyhow, isn't it obvious already, dude?"

"No. What is it?"

"Manny…" Frida placed her hand softly on her friend's shoulder, almost as if she was about to reveal him he suffered from a terminal disease. "You've been cloned."

That idea had a strange effect on Manny's mind. Somehow, it seemed ridiculous and plausible at the same time. Part of him acknowledged that cloning was something he had dealt with in a previous time while, at the same time, he sort of disregarded that statement.

"What do you mean by a clone?" He queried.

"Duh! A clone? Someone bred inside a glass tube to look exactly to a person and…"

"_Sí_, _sí_, I know what's a clone and he's none of that. He's just some jerk wearing a mask who tries to dirt up my good name." accused Manny.

"Good name? What good name?!" mocked the impostor.

"Shut up! Frida, how long this guy's been here?"

"I don't know. All morning, I guess. I was late for school anyway."

"Late? Wait a minute, how come Chakal didn't expel you like he swears to do every day?"

"I have… my methods." Responded Frida with a smirk and crossing her arms. "Perhaps I'll explain it to you one of these days."

Chakal forgave Manny and Frida. _Chakal_ _forgave_ _Manny and Frida_. There was nothing right in that sentence; no single part of it made sense. That man spends most of his time making life impossible to them and everyone else's child at school.

Were he in another situation, Manny first action would've been questioning his friend about her overcoming of the educational system. But right now his only interest rested on dealing with the core of his problems, which wouldn't surprise him if they turned out to be related to that guy next to him.

"So" continued Frida "what's up, Manny? How you've been these days without your main companion by your side, huh?" She said, elbowing him softly on the arm.

Manny took his time to ponder about everything that happened during these last weeks and especially today. He organized his thoughts for a moment, tipping his chin with his finger, and then took a deep breath before spouting a cascade-long chain of past events.

"Well, first, we have a mind-breaking math exam that gets me an F the size of my _cabeza_ and makes my dad's blood boil in anger. He gives me the usual 'Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O'Brien Equihua Rivera!" routine and grounds me by docking my allowance and taking the rest of my money away, which is why I haven't been able to go play at the Mayan Arcade or even buy a nice churro in a freaking long time. As if that weren't enough, I have to stay the whole rest of the day and night after school locked inside my room facing an uphill battle with cupboard-sized math books until the next math exam, which was today, which I flunked _big time_. And believe me, I don't know where my dad found those books! I never knew there was that amount of room in the attic. Hence, my outdoors duties as El Tigre have been, listen carefully, limited ONLY when there's a _gigante_ level threat upon Miracle City. Moreover, I disobeyed him and went out last night as El Tigre for some fresh air instead of the dusty books only to dive into a sewer to elude and leave him fighting against the Flock of Fury, listen to this, ALONE. Yeah, Granpapi joined my dad later but it still didn't quite feel right. Also, I ended up all stinky and in the middle of the desert. I can't recall very clearly what happened lat excepting rushing to arrive home and get some sleep. But I woke up on the middle of the desert like yesterday and had to rush again my way back home. And as a finishing touch, my dad's gonna wrongfully ground me for eating his home-made churros that gave me a stomach ache."

By the time he was finished, Manny was panting heavily after finally getting off everything he had to put up with these days off his chest, aside with a significant ration of air straight from the lungs. Frida couldn't deny she felt quite startled at her friend's half rant-half biographical summary. Despite flinching slightly at first, she gave him a kind smile.

"So, yeah, nothing too out of normal. Oh, and I just came from the second math exam. Left nearly all blank but at least I wrote my name correctly… I think."

"Wow! I'm away for a couple of weeks and your entire life breaks down." Without losing her smile, she patted softly his head like petting a puppy. "Oh, dude, what would you do without me?"

Manny rolled his eyes a bit before returning the kind simper.

"Well, for one, I wouldn't have anyone to take the blame every time I get caught." he joked.

"Very funny, dude." replied Frida, feigning annoyance. "Just remember I'm the brain behind most of _our_ operations."

"_Perfecto_. Now I got your full confession, Suárez." Joked the boy some more.

"Wow! If that's how you treat your friends, I don't want to know how you treat your enemies." crabbed the impersonator who, until now, had remained perfectly quiet resting on a wall.

"Way of killing the fun, copycat." said an upset Manny.

"Trust me. I've seen funnier stuff inside a sewer." That last word triggered a weird, small sensation in Manny. 'Sewer'. The last time he had had to walk down there was last night once; but, only once?

"You know what? I'm getting fed up with you!"

"Not my case. I've been fed up with you all along!"

Frida facepalmed. _Otra vez_, both boys were on the brink of a fight. Sure, it was quite entertaining to watch them near engaging in a wrangle the first time but now the whole routine was getting old; not to mention quite dangerous as they clenched their jaws and stormy eyes locked on each other. They actually looked like two rabid dogs about to engage in a violent fight, which wouldn't be a problem if one of them weren't an obviously ill-tempered El Tigre.

"Will you quit it already? You're both acting like little kids!" ordered Frida.

"We're not being kids!"  
"We're not being kids!"

"Stop doing that!" demanded the real Manny.

"Doing what?" asked the impostor, faking innocence.

"That whole one-voice-chorus-like thing."

"You mean speaking on unison? You need a better vocabulary, _amigo_."

"Okay, that's it for this guy!"

The ticking bomb finally exploded. Manny spun his belt buckle. The copycat backed off a bit from the green blazes around the boy. After releasing his characteristic powerful tiger roar and battle cry…

"El Tigr- AARRGHH!"

…he fell to his knees and his eyes widened out of pain. Once more, his stomach began to hurt like struck by the burning bite of a hundred rattlesnakes. Nevertheless, he could only pretend it was alright. Showing weakness during a fight? Better dead. Besides, the pain was starting to fade slightly. Steeling himself, El Tigre stood fully on his feet and charged at his imitator with the might of a ferocious tiger.

"I'll cut that mask off from your face if I need to."

"Nah, you won't."

Reacting swiftly, the imitator stepped aside and dodged the attack. Before El Tigre could turn and reprise the attack, the false Manny grabbed him by the arm and twisted it towards his back.

"See? Not fast enough, brother."

Despite having one arm and his abdomen aching like crazy, he tried to release himself from the grapple but didn't succeed. Somehow, his foe had a similar strength to him, to El Tigre. All of sudden, a powerful kick on the back sent the young super head first against a wall on the furthest part of the hallway.

"Manny!" Yelled Frida. Then, she turned to the counterfeit… "Hey, stop hurt- _W-w-WHAT_??!!" …Only to find a little surprise.

Slightly beaten, El Tigre managed to get up again and casted the overly-curious students crowding around him away. As soon as he made it through them, he prepared to deliver a nice set of comeback punches. However, something had changed on his impersonator.

"_W-w-WHAT_??!!" he muttered, just like Frida.

Without realizing how or when it happened, the fake Manny Rivera wore an El Tigre suit; one complete with the tail, the ears and the sharp metal claws. Stranger was the fact the authentic El Tigre never caught a mere glimpse of the usual green flames or even a whisper of the characteristic tiger roar.

"What is the meaning of all th- WHOA!" His words were abruptly interrupted when a chain-bound fist launched at him almost smashes his head, had he not ducked in time. This was definitely not about the outer look anymore. The impostor _truly_ brandished El Tigre powers of his own. But how?

The fake El Tigre jumped high and thrust his foot downwards as he dived down like an eagle about to attack his prey. Out of luck, the real El Tigre's stomach cramped again, crippling the boy for a moment but, despite the pain, he could crawl to the side and elude getting stomped. Although still stung by his stomach, El Tigre aimed and harpooned his fist at his opponent. This time, he hit him right on the chin. Then, trying to get the upper hand, he grasped him by the red bandanna and pulled him towards his position. There, the faker's face was met by a second punch; this time, directly on the face.

That second blow knocked him down to the floor. Angered by the clout, he took El Tigre off his feet with a footsweep, down to his level. The imposter tried to shove his own fist on his foe's stomach but El Tigre managed to roll aside and elude. Just when the young super tried to get up, his doppelganger him by the arm and lashed him against one of the lockers alongside. Seeing how the fight continued, the rest of the student body, who had until now limited to watch their small quarrel turn into superpowered, mano a mano combat, gathered around them and formed a sort of circular ring that chanted "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" fiercely at one voice.

El Tigre gave the crowd a sidelong glance, then at his impersonator, then rubbed his hurting stomach once more. Now the fight took a drastic turn: Under the eyes of the entire school, the boy felt pressured; unable to relent or yield toward his contender. Losing was now strictly forbidden. After all, what would the school think if he lost to a cheap copy of himself? Eternal shame would follow if so.

By the time El Tigre got on his feet, his impersonating was charging like a furious bull at him with his hands wide open and showing their deadly set of claws extended. He responded quickly by ripping out the door of a locker he was tossed against and used it as a shield. The sharp silver claws stabbed it. El Tigre watched from the other side how, before the imposter could pull them out, they cut through the metal plaque, their tips barely brushing the tip of his nose. After having his attack blocked, the counterfeit proceeded to deliver swipe after swipe, each faster than the previous one, trying to break his literal iron defense. Caught in a stalemate, all El Tigre could do was back away while the other pressed on attacking. The continuous thrashing was rendering the locker door broken, torn and, eventually, useless. Getting sick of letting himself cornered…

*CLANG!!!*

El Tigre, in a sudden move, slammed his foe's head with his improvised shield. The false one fell to the floor, mildly stunned by the bash.

"Hey, that was a low hit!"

"Pfft! You don't like to fight dirty? Are you sure you're imitating _me_?

"Oh, fight dirty, you say? All right then…" The impostor got up and started making strange grimaces and guttural sounds, almost as if he was about to throw up. He leaned his head backwards and his mouth swelled up. For a moment, his eyes seemed to go off.

Before he could imagine what was about to happen, the counterfeit spewed a stream of some thick, green and mucous substance that bumped strongly and glued almost instantly on El Tigre's face.

"Ewwww!!!" clamored the crowd of students in disgust.

While the faker cleaned off the dripping ooze off his mouth, the real El Tigre attempted to pull the vile gunk off his face frantically. Not only was it firmly adhered but also its acrid reek to mold penetrated his nose like a red-hot drill.

As the authentic El Tigre tried desperately to remove that nasty, phlegm-like slime with his hands, the imposter burst into wild laughter; especially when the former tried sticking his claws into his face to slice it off him, only to release a cry of pain after accidentally scratching his eyes. He tried spinning his belt buckle and de-transform just in case his mask would disappear along with some of the slime. Immediately afterwards, Manny began running around blindly, attempting to grope for someone to assist him. However, all he achieved was bang his head against the walls and lockers while the imposter Tigre rolled on the floor, cracking up cruelly. The student crowd around them also started chuckling for a moment before giving up to loud laughter. Meanwhile, the poor boy could only keep screaming 'Get it off me! Get it off me!' and running sightless at the same time his ears could listen to nothing beyond mocking cachinnations.

Then, as the impersonator was in stitches, Frida Suárez made her way through the circle of students and stood right in front of him. She, however, didn't share any of his or the group's amusement. Instead, without any warning, the girl punched the fake Tigre's head, snapping him out of his savage fit of laughter.

"Ow! Hey, what the-"

"Beat it!" she ordered coldly.

He reluctantly started to get on his feet at a slow pace.

"_AHORA_!" She snarled, putting a wrathful expression on her face. Frightened by the sudden mood swing, the imposter hastened and ran away to disappear around a corner.

Just as Frida glanced at the parting Tigre, a couple of hands began groping her head from behind until they reached the top of her red goggles.

"Frid-d-a… is that… y-you?" Uttered Manny's voice with a choked tone. She turned around to see her friend still with his face covered by the slime and panting noisily.

"Dude, are you okay?"

"I… c-c-can't… breeeetheee…" he managed to pronounce. He seemed to be near losing consciousness. The phlegm-like substance had his nose almost entirely muffled, thus obstructing his breathing.

"Whoa! Hold on, _amigo_."

The girl had to think quickly. She grabbed her friend, dragged him away from the turmoil of people around them to somewhere where to remove that choking piece of ooze. _"Maybe some water would help getting rid of it"_ she thought.

Frida rushed into the girls' bathroom. Unfortunately…

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" screamed all the other girls inside.

"Oops! Sorry." said Frida, embarrassed. She had to leave Manny outside, resting on a wall.

"I'll be back soon enough, dude. Don't worry." Spoke Frida before entering.

19 MINUTES LATER

"Phew! I so did need that!" commented a very relieved Frida as she got out of the toilet room. Instantly afterwards, she ran into the boy who was still lying on the floor with his face covered in slime "Oh, no! I forgot about the slime thing!" exclaimed the girl before going back in.

ANOTHER 19 MINUTES LATER

Finally, the girl returned to her friend. In her hand, she welded a small piece of cloth soaked in hot water.

"This might hurt a little." warned Frida right before stamping said cloth and crumpling it onto Manny's face, trying to scrub that already dried paste off.

"YeeeaaAAAAoooWWWWuuuuCCCHHHhhh!!!" screamed Manny while his friend pulled and pushed his whole head, making his entire self twitch like a fish out of the water.

"Just… some… more…!!!"

Several brutal moments of struggle later, Frida had finally gotten rid of the sludge, leaving Manny panting for air. She just tossed the cloth to a trash can and, after making sure no teachers were looking, cleaned her slime-stained hands on the wall.

"_Gracias_, Frida. I was starting to asphyxiate." said Manny.

"_De nada_. By the way, sorry for all the tugging but that thing was tough to remove."

"Meh. Don't worry. That was nothing compared to when dad and granpapi tried to wash the cheese stains off my face after the Gran Nacho Festival last month."

"Well, hurry up, dude. We gotta go to sport class in…" she checked the clock on the wall. "…20 minutes ago."

"Can you make up an excuse for me? I'm sick, broke my leg and/or went to fight a monster. I'm skipping this."

"Why, where you're going?"

"Let's say I just remembered something."


End file.
